


[at] the end of infinity

by aNerdObsessed



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Angst and Feels, Brief Mention of Corpse, F/M, Fictional Technology, Interrogation, Mild Blood, Post-Apocalypse, Set in the Midwest USA, Torture, death/dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26618608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aNerdObsessed/pseuds/aNerdObsessed
Summary: The Storm destroyed modern civilization, but Rey doesn't know anything else. Day in, day out, she survives by scavenging abandoned properties to trade for food in Town, waiting for someone to come back. She clings to the hope that the next day could be different.The Storm ravaged the world, but Kylo knows what he has to do. For years, he uses his powers to serve the First Order, wanting to build something good from the rubble. He clings to the fear that he may never atone for his mistakes.amagnetospherepiece for the 2020 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 24
Kudos: 21
Collections: To Rapture the Earth and the Seas: the 2020 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology





	1. there's been a million before me

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta, [Somewhere_overthe_Reylo](https://twitter.com/somewhere_reylo)! Also thanks to the RFFA mods for all their hard work putting this together and making this project a great experience.
> 
> All titles are lyrics from _The Last of the Real Ones_ by Fall Out Boy

The wooden stairs into the basement wobbled treacherously, threatening to give way under Rey’s feet. “Shit!” she muttered and leaned against the wall, not trusting the flimsy handrail. The light from her headlamp wavered, glinting off the murky water that covered the cement floor of the decrepit house. The air was musty and damp, likely thick with mold spores, but she had pulled her scarf over her mouth and nose before descending into the darkness for that reason. 

She made it to the bottom without incident, the water covering her boots above the ankle, and waded in. 

“This had better be worth it,” she whispered, the sound of her voice faint like the trickle and drip of water through cracks in the concrete walls. It was risky to come down alone; what if the stairs collapsed, and she was trapped in the basement? No one would find her, probably ever. Finn would go out of his mind looking for her, but he was the only one who would care and he wouldn’t know where to begin looking. 

But if she didn’t find enough merch to trade, they’d starve, although Finn insisted otherwise. Besides, her gut was telling her something good waited to be discovered. Finn thought her instinct for finding usable tech where no one else had was uncanny, but Rey called it persistence. If she wanted to survive, she needed to find good merch. It was simple as that. 

Rey slogged forward, scanning the shadowy water for any hazards. The floor appeared to have been carpeted and it squished under her feet. Against the far wall was a desk with a computer monitor connected to a desktop tower. Unfortunately, the computer was sitting in the water, rendering it useless. If she wanted to try to take it back for parts, she’d have to find someone interested in salvaging the components. The jar of nails she’d found in the garage would have much better resale value. 

Rey glanced around. Surely previous scavengers had missed something. Not all of them were willing to wade into moldy, half-submerged basements. Her light glinted on something metallic and she moved closer. 

It was a mesh enclosure the size of a microwave surrounding a solid metal box, held shut with a rusted padlock. Rey recognized a Faraday cage when she saw one, knowing the conductive metal mesh could protect against electromagnetic events, maybe the Storm. She took the hammer from her belt that she carried for such occasions and smashed it without hesitation so the broken lock fell into the water with a plunk. She wrenched the door of the cage open and pulled the box from inside. Setting it on the desk, she pried the lid of the box open on rusty hinges. Nestled inside was a flash drive, wrapped in thick plastic. She peered at it in the dim light from her headlamp, but it was impossible to tell if it was corrupted or corroded. Still, it was interesting, and someone had thought it worthwhile to keep locked up. 

She tucked the flash drive into her bag, checking the basement one more time before making her way up the trembling stairs. On the main floor, she went through the kitchen, which was picked clean before she arrived, and walked out the backdoor. 

Rey sat down on the wooden step and let the screen door bang shut behind her, pulling down the scarf around her neck. 

The heat was thick and oppressive that day, reaching inside the abandoned two-story she was exploring, forcing her to step outside often for a drink of water and a bit of a breeze. She checked the thermometer nailed beside the back door, the mercury indicating it was well above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Not that anybody cared about specific measurements anymore; it was either hot, or it wasn’t. Finer details like the actual temperature was one of the first things to get worn away after the Storm. 

She tilted her canteen back, catching the last few drops on her tongue before screwing the cap back on and slipping it into her bag. 

It was midafternoon, the summer sun off center in the cloudless sky, but she should get back. An untainted well was located on the way, but without stopping to fill her cans with clean water, it would take her three hours to cycle home. She still had to cook a meal and sort through her finds before the light faded, such as they were. Previous scavengers had been thorough, but she’d always managed to find at least a few tradeable items others had overlooked. Though she ignored Finn’s teasing about her special talent, sometimes it was like they called to her, waiting for her to happen along and find them. 

It wasn’t smart to be out at dusk anyway. That was when the Knights were most active, or so the Townies said. The Townies said a lot of things, though. Mostly they were rumors and conjecture, which were the closest things they had to facts after the Storm because no one could disprove them. They also said that Knights could lift a semi-truck with their minds and produce lightning from their hands. 

Rey was skeptical since she’d never seen a Knight, but Finn assured her that they were real. The fear in his face was enough to convince her. She wasn’t afraid until she’d stumbled on a body on one of the properties she’d scavenged. It was relatively fresh; no animals had gotten to it yet. She’d come across corpses before, most of them too decomposed to be recognizable. The marks on that body were horrible, burnt flesh and contorted limbs telling of the agony the victim had experienced before death took hold. Rey had fled home though it wasn’t yet noon. When she’d worked up the courage to describe what she’d seen to Finn that evening, he’d told her in a quiet voice it was the work of a Knight. 

Finn had escaped from the First Order; the brand of the serial number on his arm was proof of that. He rarely talked about his time in forced child labor for the First Order and Rey didn’t press for details. He didn’t ask about her childhood or family either, but the pair took care of each other. If anyone knew what a First Order Knight was capable of, it was Finn, and she tried not to worry him unnecessarily. 

Reluctantly, Rey stood, picked up her bag, and trotted across the overgrown yard of thistles to where she’d left her bicycle propped against an oak tree. She secured her bag in the basket on the back, pulled on gloves, and raised her hood before settling her goggles over her eyes. 

Rey wheeled the bicycle down the gravel drive towards the road, the empty water cans rattling where they hung over the bike’s frame. She didn’t dare ride the short distance to the asphalt pavement for fear of piercing a tire on a sharp rock or old nail. New tires were hard to come by and would cost several days of scavenging. The road wasn’t much better for bicycle tires, cracked and uneven, but she could hardly get this far out from town on foot. It was a balance between risk and profit like everything else she did. 

When Rey reached the rusty mailbox at the end of the drive, she swung her leg over the seat, checking once more to make sure everything was secure. She looked back at the house one last time, empty windows like hollow eyes stared back surrounded by peeling paint like saggy skin. She looked at the listing mailbox again, its flag still raised as if waiting for the postal service to come by and pick up whatever letters were being sent out. Rey leaned over and flipped it down, reading the faded name painted on the box:  _ Skywalker.  _

After two hours of steady pedaling, she made it to the well, behind another empty farmhouse. This property was picked down to the frame, being so close to town. Rey pistoned the pump handle several times before clean water gushed out, splattering on the dirt and moss at its foot. She drank from the spout before filling the cans and slinging them back on her bicycle. The last leg of the journey took longer because of the heavy water cans, but Finn would be pleased they didn’t have to pay for safe drinking water tomorrow. 

The scenery along her route was fairly monotonous, if she’d bothered to notice. The neglected cornfields were overgrown with grasses and a few daring saplings. Full grown trees were few and far between, with nothing else to deter the unrelenting sunlight. She kept her head down, focusing on keeping a steady rhythm to her pedaling. 

The empty apartment complex was on the north side of town. Rey removed the water cans before leaning the bicycle against the three-story building where she lived. 

“Finn, you home?” 

“Rey!” Finn came outside, a relieved grin on his face. “You’re back.” 

He didn’t like her going out solo to scavenge, always grumbling how she should get a partner for her trips into the rural areas, but she didn’t trust anyone not to cheat her. Finn would do it if he could, but they both had their jobs to maintain their situation. 

“Could you carry the water cans? I’ve got to get the bicycle inside.” 

“Sure,” he said, hefting the heavy cans, the thick muscles in his arms barely bulging. Working at a farm six days a week for ten hours built up strength. It was hardly fair that she could only get leaner. 

They climbed the stairs to the second floor of the apartment building, which had once been a series of studio units. Rey stowed the bicycle in one of the units that no longer had a door before following Finn into the room that they’d designated as the main living area. The windows were still intact, keeping the elements out and regulating the temperature to an extent. 

“Find any good merch today?” Finn asked while they ate their dinner out on the balcony. 

“I haven’t had a chance to look it over yet,” Rey answered. “I plan to go through it tomorrow and take it to the Mall. I also have some pieces I want Maz to look over.” 

“Maz? Did you find some tech?” 

Rey nodded. “A flash drive. I think it would have been shielded from the Storm so if it had any files on it, they might be recoverable. Whoever it belonged to seemed to have gone to some trouble to protect it.” 

“Huh,” Finn said. “It won’t sell well, though.” 

“No,” Rey agreed. “But it might be fun to see what’s on there.” 

“I guess.” Finn said. “It's probably some dead kid’s homework.” 

“That’s always your guess,” Rey said. 

“I was right the last time, though.” 

“What if it’s a movie?” Rey retorted. “I haven’t found a new movie in ages.” 

“It’ll just be another copy of  _ The Lion King _ .” 

“Shut up, Finn.” 

He did with a smirk on his face. 

That night, Rey curled on the pallet with her sleeping bag unzipped, unaware of the storm heading her way. She fell asleep with the window open in her room, watching the muted light of the auroras play across the walls. 

~---~

Snoke had summoned him yet again. 

Kylo stomped down the dingy avenue, heedless of the oily puddles that splashed on his boots. A mist blew off the lake through the glass and metal canyons between silent skyscrapers, vanishing into the haze of low-hanging clouds. 

He fucking hated the city. 

He walked across the cracked, stained sidewalk and through the metal door frame of the Towers’ lobby. Shattered glass from the blown-out windows crunched against the marble under his feet, announcing his arrival. 

Hux was lounging against the wall, and he pushed himself upright when he saw Kylo. 

“You’re late,” he said. 

“I’m always late, so,” Kylo shrugged. He walked quickly and Hux trotted to keep up as they walked towards the defunct elevators. 

“You seem to think deliberate lateness makes an entire personality,” Hux sniped. 

“You seem to think talking is a personality,” Kylo returned. 

“Snoke doesn’t tolerate disrespect.” 

Kylo sighed. Hux was especially contemptuous today and he found it pathetic. Stretching out a hand towards the elevator doors, he concentrated and let the energy flow. It crackled through him, along his nerves, and pulled at the world around them. With a shudder, the doors slid open and Hux stepped into the lift. Kylo followed, allowing them to shut behind them. 

It was dark, lit only by dim phosphorescence. The illumination was one of Hux’s developments used in the reclaimed buildings the First Order inhabited throughout the city. Hux was nervous. Being trapped in the elevator car with him was testing both their control. If they wanted to be obedient, they had to appear before Snoke when summoned. Kylo couldn’t appear without Hux, and Hux couldn’t move the elevator without Kylo. It was part of Snoke’s game to keep them both on their leashes. 

Kylo knelt, closing his eyes and focusing on the mechanism of the elevator. He exhaled and the elevator car shuddered and groaned around them, accelerating up the shaft. “Fuck, Ren,” Hux yelped. 

Kylo ignored him in favor of keeping the elevator rising. Snoke chose to take residence on the 91 st floor of the west tower, making stairs a daunting endeavor. The Force hummed in his bones, resonating at the base of his spine. 

“We’re close,” Hux warned. “Stop! Stop here!” 

Kylo grunted, engaging the locking brackets so they didn’t plummet down the empty shaft. He was sweating by the time he pried open the doors so they could exit. Yet another example of Snoke’s manipulation: Kylo would always be slightly fatigued when he approached Snoke’s seat, weakening him for whatever Snoke had waiting. 

“How kind of you to finally show your faces,” Snoke sneered at them from where he sat, backlit by the gray light filtering through the cloudbanks. The city was invisible, wiped out by the eddying mists beyond the windows. 

“I apologize, sir,” Hux said. “Some don’t understand the importance of punctuality.” 

Kylo tightened his fist but remained silent. Hux was a simpering idiot and Kylo refused to engage him on his level. 

Snoke stood, and walked toward them. “Punctuality has its purpose, General, as do you. Don’t try to tell me what is or what isn’t important to me.” 

“Of course, sir.” 

More phosphorescent lights glittered in the ceiling and floor, giving everything a ghostly blue hue. Snoke advanced on them, his scarred and pale visage ghoulish as he grinned at them, hands clasped behind his back. 

“What have you to report? General?” 

Hux mimicked Snoke’s posture, spine straightening and wrists locked behind him. “We’ve begun testing the magnetic turbines. We hope to have them functional by the end of the month so we can begin integrating them to the power grid.” 

“And the Troops?” Snoke said. 

“We have recruited enough numbers to total ten thousand, allowing us to increase the field and the size of our operations. The Troops continue to scavenge the city. Phasma now has them working round the clock to follow any leads we have on Skywalker or his research.” 

“Hmm, that all sounds excellent, General. But what about results?” 

“Nothing tangible yet, sir. But –” 

“Enough.” Snoke spun on his heel. “What about you, Ren? What has your network of Knights done for me?” 

Kylo fixed his eyes somewhere next to Snoke’s shoes, staring at the non-pattern of the marble flooring. “The Knights continue to scour the outlying areas. We’ve brought in dozens of new recruits for Phasma’s Troops, even some former Resistance to be reconditioned.” 

“And Skywalker?” 

“Nothing, sir. I’m sorry.” 

“Hmph.” Snoke stalked away, looking out into the swirling clouds. Electricity crackled over Snoke’s knuckles. Kylo’s lip curled. Snoke enjoyed his powers a little too much, casually flaunting them whenever he had opportunity, though he wasn’t the only one to have been changed by the Storm. 

“I had hoped for more encouraging news,” Snoke murmured. He sighed. “I thought I had made you both understand that out of everything I ask of you, Skywalker is the priority. Always.” 

“I’m sorry, sir,” Hux started. “I –” 

“Quiet,” Snoke snapped. “Next time, I expect more progress towards recovering Skywalker. The longer Skywalker eludes us, the bolder our opponents will become. We must ensure that we alone can harness the Force, otherwise we will not last. Understand?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Yes, master.” 

“Now, whose turn is it?” 

Hux stepped back, leaving Kylo alone. 

“Ah, yes.” Snoke grinned. The electricity arced menacingly around his arms and he flicked a finger, sending a jagged bolt through the air. 

Lightning coursed through Kylo’s body and he fell to his knees. It hurt, it burned, it  _ seared _ . His muscles convulsed, throwing him to the ground. Distantly, he was aware of his screams as he writhed on the floor. 

~---~

“It’s been too long, girl.” Maz Kanata stood in her front door and peered up at Rey through her thick lenses. 

“I know. I’m sorry.” She shifted her feet on the sun-bleached welcome mat. 

“Hmm,” Maz said. “If you were sorry, you’d come by more often. And not just for business.” 

Rey huffed. “I have work, Maz. You know that.” 

“Hmm,” Maz said, turning to walk back into her house. “Come on in, unless you plan on shouting at me from the front door the whole time.” 

Rey stepped inside the entryway, letting the backpack slip from her shoulder and hang in the crook of her elbow. Maz’s house always smelled of fresh-baked sourdough and lavender and Rey couldn’t help the soundless sigh that escaped her. 

“How’s your boyfriend?” Maz called from the kitchen. 

“Still not my boyfriend, and he’s doing alright.” Rey walked down the hallway, glancing at the pictures in the frames. A younger, less wrinkled version of Maz stood in front of various landscapes and monuments. Maz had been a professor at the university in town pre-Storm, and she’d told Rey stories of the study abroad trips she’d volunteered to lead. She’d told Rey about each location of the pictures on her wall. Those places would look very different now: either scorched by solar radiation or falling into disrepair. 

“Tell Finn he should come by. I have a few jobs I need done that I’ll pay him for.” 

“Finn would love that. I’ll let him know.” 

“What do you have for me?” Maz said, emerging from the kitchen to hand her a cool glass of water. 

Rey set her bag down on a side table and riffled through it until she found the plastic-wrapped flash drive. 

“A thumb drive?” Maz said, plucking it from Rey’s hand and scrutinizing it. “What makes you think this one is uncorrupted?” 

“It was in a Faraday cage, just like the ones you have. Someone wanted it to be protected in case of something like the Storm.” 

“Hmm, interesting. Whatever it is won’t sell, you know that? It could just be a computer virus or porn.” 

“If it’s porn, Plutt will buy it,” Rey said. “I know it’s probably nothing but I thought you’d like to see what it is anyway.” 

“Alright, come on then.” Maz took her through the house to the garage where she kept her set up, along with all her books. Rey stepped down, taking in the shelves of textbooks and references ranging from computer engineering to physics. The opposing wall had all of Maz’s electronic equipment, safely locked in a series of Faraday cages. It was insurance, Maz had told her, in case the Storm ever happened again. Her workshop was the product of years of recovery and restoration. Rey had supplied several pieces herself, keeping an eye out for items Maz was in need of, knowing she’d pay a fair price. 

Rey had only been in the third grade when the Storm irrevocably changed the world. She didn’t remember much of the event itself, and what she did was second-hand from those who did. Some people said it was a solar flare of unprecedented magnitude, some said it was a man-made sustained electromagnetic surge, others said it was both. Still others said it was more, creating new monsters in the chaos. The cause didn’t matter so much as the effects. The earth’s magneto- and ionospheres were altered, warped. The damage to the global infrastructure and the resulting panic resulted in civil breakdown in the next years, and the society that emerged was significantly different and severely isolated. 

While the older population tended to obsess over the Storm and life before, Rey had grown up surviving in this new world. She disliked the fickle weather systems that changed on a dime and loved the vibrant, expansive auroras that shone every night. Her life was what it was; at least it had been since her parents left her during their flight from the city after the Storm. 

“I’m going to see if I can access it on one of the laptops,” Maz mumbled. She plugged in the computer to the power strip hooked to the solar panel outside her home. “The connectors on these USBs can be finicky but we’ll see.” 

Rey wandered around the garage while Maz muttered to herself and pushed up her glasses to peer at the screen. Rey’s fingers trailed over the spines of the books, mouthing the names to herself. She could read, but she didn’t have much opportunity or inclination to pursue it. It did bother her sometimes, all that knowledge contained and forgotten in the pages. She’d take a book from the houses that she scavenged, intending to read it later, but it was always too dark or she was too tired when she got back to her home with Finn. 

“Rey, come here.” 

Rey trotted over to Maz, bending to look over her shoulder. 

“We’ve got some files here. Quite a bit of storage.” 

“Anything interesting?” 

“Patience.” 

Maz methodically went through the files after scanning them for malware. 

“No video files.” 

Rey waited. 

“Several documents and databases. Huh. Research data, and papers, some theses and a few dissertations. This may have belonged to another professor at the university. Where did you say you found this?” 

“About two hours out of town. The name on the mailbox said Skywalker, I think?” 

Maz turned to her. “Skywalker? You’re sure?” 

“Um, yeah.” 

Maz turned back to the screen, closing the files and ejecting the drive. She returned it to its casing before giving it to Rey, closing her palm over it. “Rey, have you heard of the Resistance?” 

Rey frowned. Of course she had – who hadn’t? They were almost as notorious as the First Order and their Knights. Belligerent, that’s what the Townies said about the Resistance, shunning them whenever their agents came into town. They had tried to recruit her once when she was at the Mall trying to sell a tireless bike she had managed to lug back to town. They’d said they were fighting against the evil of the First Order in order to protect everyone. Rey said she could protect herself, thanks, and quickly walked away. 

“You should talk to them.” 

“What?” Rey said. 

“Have you heard that name before? Skywalker?” 

“I don’t think so.” 

“Hmm. Well, if this belonged to him, the Resistance will want it.” 

Rey perked up. “Will they pay?” 

Maz chuckled. “Definitely. You could probably squeeze a good price out of them too. But you’ll have to get it to them first.” 

Rey frowned, tucking the drive back into her bag. “You make that sound difficult.” 

“They're a little bit wary of unknown quantities because they’re afraid of a First Order plant.” 

“I'm not First Order,” Rey scoffed. 

“That’s what a plant would say,” Maz pointed out. 

“Okay, so how do I contact them?” 

Maz shrugs. “I can’t help you there. They cut me out of the network a while ago.” 

“You were Resistance?” 

Maz laughed, standing from her desk. “Hell no, girl. I’d just sell them some of my restored tech, until they got snippy about me selling to other people, too. Seemed to think it was a betrayal or some shit. Like I didn’t have a damn business to run.” 

“Alright, well, thanks Maz. I guess I’ll figure it out.” 

“I’m sure you will. You’re a resourceful girl.” 

~---~

Rey entered the Mall and removed her goggles and scarf, clutching her bag. She eyed the other vendors set up on blankets and tables along the huge corridors. Some were selling surplus food produced at home. Tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, and summer squash picked fresh that morning filled crates next to baskets of eggs and frothy milk in glass jars. Sometimes she was able to find and trade newly scavenged jars for pints of fresh milk, and she and Finn would take turns sipping the creamy liquid from the wide mouth jars in the evening and laughing at each other's milk mustaches. 

Others were reselling items brought in from the scavengers like Rey. Cooking equipment, hardware, toys, and weapons were spread out on worn blankets to be inspected. A few sold trinkets too: statuettes, rundown clocks, and decks of colorful cards. 

Rey walked between their displays, clutching her bag to her stomach. Pickpockets weren’t uncommon in the Mall. She was one herself until Lor Santekka had pity on her and took her out scavenging. The old man had probably saved her life by providing her with a livelihood, such as it was. She still probably wouldn’t have made it if Finn hadn’t found his way to her and their unlikely partnership hadn’t come together, but she could still conjure a bit of sadness at Lor’s memory though he’d died years ago. 

Rey made her way through the Mall towards Plutt’s table. The man was repugnant in multiple ways, the most obvious being personal hygiene. Neither of them liked the other, but that wasn’t important for their transactions. Rey could expect a fair price for her scavengings, and she knew what Plutt wanted. 

He was dealing with a customer when she approached, arguing heatedly over the value of some piece of junk, his bald head glistening with sweat though it wasn’t that hot inside the Mall, with tall ceilings to cool the ground level. Rey waited patiently, observing the vendors and customers wandering around. They all looked like Townies, no one from elsewhere that could have been a Resistance agent. 

“What do you got for me this time?” Plutt demanded, startling her slightly. 

Rey removed the jar of nails from her bag and a bundle of several kitchen knives, setting them on the table. 

“Hmm,” Plutt said, glancing over her offerings. “Not having good luck out there?” 

“There’s not much close to town anymore.” 

“That’s not really my problem though, is it?” Plutt picked up the jar of nails, weighing them in his hand. He had a flat plate scale but he had weighted it inaccurately, something Rey had only picked up on after her first few dealings with him. He didn’t bother to use it anymore. Plutt picked up one of the knives and hefted it, assessing the quality. They were good, if in need of a sharpening; Rey had kept one back for her and Finn to use to chop the vegetables he brought back from the farm. 

“I’ll take it all,” he said begrudgingly, as if it was her that would owe him rather than the other way around. “You can pick up your share at the end of the week.” 

Rey flattened her lips. “I would prefer it now.” 

Plutt sneered. “Do I look like I’m made of money? I’ll have it by the end of the week.” 

“Fine.” 

Plutt hadn’t lied to her yet. Misled her, sure, but he needed him to broker for her since she couldn’t afford to waste time at the Mall when she could be scavenging. Stopping by Maz’s plus this trip to the Mall had cost her the day. 

“Good,” he grumbled. Plutt snatched up her merch with a greasy smile. Rey turned away, feeling a quick inventory of her bag out of habit when her fingers brushed against the flash drive. She faced him again, leaning over his table. He looked up with a scowl. 

“What is it now?” he sighed. 

“Do you know anything about Skywalker?” 

Plutt’s expression immediately hardened. “And why would I know anything about that name?” 

“I need to know.” 

“Are you accusing me of working with the Resistance?” 

“No, I just thought –” 

Plutt’s eyes darted around the Mall and he withdrew. “I have no idea. Now, get lost before I decide I don’t want your business anymore.” 

“I –” 

“Go!” 

Rey scoffed, whirled, and stormed away. Several heads turned up to watch her charge through the Mall. When she threw a glare over her shoulder towards Plutt, she caught sight of him talking to someone unfamiliar to her. She stumbled over the edge of someone’s blanket, earning her a scolding from the owner. She apologized hastily and when she turned toward Plutt’s again and found the stranger looking back at her from under a dark hood. Something about the stranger didn’t convey friendly intentions. Rey had a sudden urge to leave. 

She ran the outside, fumbling with the lock on her bike chain before hitching a leg over. She pedaled back home quickly, keeping an eye over her shoulder the entire way. 

~---~

His body ached the next day. Kylo gave himself an extra minute to lay on the bed, focusing on the soreness in his muscles that ebbed and flowed, knowing as soon as he stood his joints would scream in agony. He’d been through it before but never grew accustomed. 

The extra minute passed and Kylo groaned as he rose to sit on the edge of the mattress. He hadn’t bothered to remove his uniform before falling into bed and the smell of burnt hair and metal roiled his stomach. He staggered upright and made it to the bathroom before he retched into the sink. The bile seared the back of his throat and he slid to the floor, a flush of cold sweat breaking out over his body. This pattern was untenable, but Snoke was a sadist who enjoyed seeing how far he could take it. 

Out of all the people affected by the Storm, why was Snoke granted the ability to manipulate the Force? The power to channel electricity and generate magnetic fields was nothing short of godlike with most modern technology wiped out. Snoke thought himself a god; the Force only confirmed his self-determined divine right to rule. 

To say Kylo felt differently about his power was an understatement. When he was granted his extra-human abilities, he was horrified and intimidated, fearful of causing more damage in the wake of the Storm. And at first, he had. The devastating, irreversible consequences of his power sundered any remaining ties to his life before. Snoke was the only person who understood his abilities and offered a chance at redemption. He promised to teach Kylo how to use his power to build rather than destroy. He honed him into a tool, but if he was a hammer, he was used more often to subdue than to construct. 

After a shower and fresh set of clothes, Kylo was less like a burnt-out husk, though the coppery taste on his tongue lingered. He lapped up water from the faucet, grimacing at the off-flavor. At least the water wasn’t brown today. Snoke’s engineers had managed to repair the running water and sewer to certain buildings at no small cost, but he Troops were dedicated to the service of the First Order and that was all Kylo cared to know. 

The knock on the door jolted him, fatigued as he was. “Come in,” he said. 

One of the Knights entered, decked out in black gear similar to Kylo’s. The man entered the room uneasily, glancing around as if expecting blood splashed on the walls or bats hanging from the ceiling. In fact, his rooms were spartan, only the sleek modern furnishings and dark wood flooring that was in style when the Storm hit. This wasn’t his home; it was where he lived. 

“What is it?” Kylo snapped, drawing the man’s attention. 

“Sir, we have some new information. A potential lead.” 

Kylo was abruptly alert. “Skywalker?” 

“Maybe. There’s someone asking questions in one of the towns down south.” 

Kylo stared at the Knight. “That’s it?” 

“Yes, sir. The Knight's transmission said the girl may be trying to get in contact with the Resistance.” 

“What girl?” he snarled. 

“We’re not sure. The signal was lost before we could determine –” 

Kylo slashed his hand through the air. “Was that all you received?” 

The Knight flinched. “That was all, sir, but we weren’t able to get the entirety of the message. Too much atmospheric interference, and the signal wasn’t that strong to begin with.” 

Kylo growled. Though all the Knights were gifted with the Force, the majority had trouble lifting a screwdriver with their minds much less generating enough power to send a radio signal hundreds of miles. 

“Do we know the Knight’s location?” 

“Yes, we have the coordinates.” 

Kylo held out his hand and the Knight passed him a paper with the brief transcript of the transmission 

“Good enough. Alert the Elite. We’re heading out.” 

“Yes, sir,” the Knight said. Kylo shoved past him. 

He smashed open the door to the stairwell and bounded down the steps towards the parking garage. Phasma’s Troopers jumped to attention when he burst out of the stairwell into the dank, dingy air of the garage. He ignored them and strode towards where the Elite Knights’ magcycles were housed. One of Hux’s designs and built by the Troops’ manufacturing division, the magcycles were extremely efficient, light but sturdy, allowing the Elite to cover vast distances by harnessing the Force without exhausting themselves. 

When the Elite Knights sauntered into the garage, Kylo was astride his magcycle, the sleek black helmet covering his head. 

“What's the situation, boss?” one of the Elite asked. 

“We have a lead on Skywalker.” 

“About damn time,” another said. 

Kylo silently agreed. Hopefully it wouldn’t turn out to be nothing like so many other times, but he needed to get out of the city, away from Snoke. 

The Elite mounted their magcycles and left the garage and spilled into the street like a swarm. The tall buildings on either side reverberated with the hum of their wheels, the glass windows glinting in the early sunlight peering between the towering structures. Each Elite tapped into the Force to accelerate over the cracked asphalt. Once they emerged from the maze of high rises onto the highway, they stretched out along the road, swerving around the cracks and holes as they blew south like a forbidding wind. 

Kylo led the way, his eyes fixed on the horizon where a storm system was brewing. As they got closer, static electricity ran down his spine and drew on the churning energy, summoning the nascent lightning. He leaned over the handles, eager for what lay ahead. 


	2. i am a collapsing star with tunnel vision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://a-nerd-obsessed.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/nerd_obsessed)

Rey waited anxiously for Finn to arrive home that afternoon. She sat by the road for hours, huddling under a scraggly maple tree that gave a decent semblance of shade. The suffocating humid air hinted at the likelihood of a storm later, the static in the atmosphere raising the hair on her arms. 

She had another reason to watch the road. The mysterious stranger hadn’t followed her back to the apartment complex on the edge of town, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t find her. She didn’t make a habit of advertising where she lived, though she didn’t go to great lengths to conceal it either. Between her and Finn, she was sure someone would be able to tell the stranger where she slept at night. 

When Finn glided down the road on his bike, she stood and waved. He waved back before pedaling the last half mile. 

“Hey,” he said, lifting the collar of his shirt to wipe away some of the sweat on his face. “How’d it go at Maz’s?” 

“Could you come inside?” Rey asked. 

Finn frowned at her tone. “Um, sure. After you.” 

Once they were inside, Rey glanced out the window towards the road before turning back to Finn, who was increasingly nervous because of her skittish behavior. 

“You know the flash drive?” 

“Um, yeah? The one you brought back yesterday, right?” 

Rey nodded. “I took it to Maz and she was able to open it.” 

“That’s good, right?” 

“Have you ever heard the name Skywalker before?” 

The effect on Finn was instantaneous. His body stiffened and his eyes widened. “Why? What do you know?” 

“So you do know it?” 

“Yes. Why are you asking?” 

“Maz says the flash drive belonged to Skywalker. She said the Resistance was looking for anything about him and I should try to get it to them, although I don’t know why.” 

Finn rubbed a hand over his face. “Did she mention the First Order is also looking for Skywalker?” 

Rey frowned. “No, she didn’t.” 

“Well, they are.” Finn got that frightened, distant look in his eyes when he was remembering his time as a Trooper in the city. “It was all they’d talk about. It was Snoke’s obsession. Find Skywalker. Bring him in.” 

“Why?” 

Finn shrugged. “Dunno exactly. That wasn’t important for people like me to know. Phasma punished anyone who asked. Rumor had it Skywalker knew things about the Storm.” 

Rey pondered for a moment. “It’d be better if the Resistance had it. But Maz and Plutt don’t know how to contact them. Or at least, Plutt claimed not to know.” 

“You asked Plutt if he could contact the Resistance? When?” 

“Today, at the Mall.” 

Finn went from worried to panicked in the blink of an eye. He jumped up from the sofa and started pacing. “You talked to Plutt? Why would you trust him? Did anyone overhear you?” 

Rey paled. “I didn’t realize it would matter, but Plutt was talking to someone after I left. A stranger from out of town. But he didn’t talk to me or follow me from the Mall.” 

“So they know. Fuck.” Finn went to the window and looked down the road before twisting the blinds shut. “We need to go. Get out of town before they get here.” 

“We don’t know that they know,” Rey protested. 

“They know,” Finn said grimly. “Trust me.” 

“But –” 

“Tell me about the stranger. Something about him unnerved you, right? That’s why you were waiting for me on the road.” 

Rey remembered the uneasiness in her gut and the prickle up her back. Her instincts were always accurate. She nodded. 

“I’ll bet you it was one of the Knights.” 

Rey felt sick. Finn’s horrible stories all came back to her in a wave. “Where would we go? And how would we get there anyway?” 

“I know someone in the Resistance. They’ll help us.” 

“ _You_ know someone? Why did you never tell me?” 

Finn made a frustrated noise, throwing his hand up. “She’s a recruiter. Found out about my history with the Order and tried to get me to join up. I told her no way in hell. I just wanted to disappear, not turn around and face those monsters again.” 

“Oh.” 

“But she told me if I ever changed my mind, I could reach out.” 

“Alright, then. Can we go now?” 

“Yes,” Finn said emphatically. “We’re going now. Get the flash drive and whatever you think you’ll need. And dress for the weather; I think it’s going to rain.” 

Shortly after, Rey and Finn were dragging their bicycles out to the road, backpacks slung over their shoulders. It was darker now, the clouds moving in from the west with a rumble of thunder to herald their advance. 

“I think you should give me the flash drive,” Finn said. “Just in case.” 

Rey didn’t want him to finish that hypothetical, knowing he was imagining the worst. She handed it over, still locked in its plastic case. 

He recognized her growing apprehension so he offered, “It’s going to be alright.” 

Rey gave Finn a small smile and she kicked off, pedaling towards town with him at her back. The fitful wind began to pick up. 

Finn had to eat his own words when they had only made it a mile into the northern residential district of town when the first of the riders appeared in front of them. Rey had never seen a vehicle like the ones that the black-clothed strangers rode, but she didn’t need Finn’s reaction to know that the Knights had found her. 

“Split up!” Finn shouted, swerving down a side street. 

Rey didn’t hesitate, skidding around the corner in the opposite direction. She grounded the gears and pumped the pedals furiously. With the Knights’ cycles gliding rapidly across the asphalt, outdistancing them was hopeless. She pedaled hard. The further she got, the more time Finn would have to disappear. Throwing back a glance to see if the Knights followed, she nearly careened over a curb before recovering her balance. The faint hum of their tires on the road was mostly drowned out by her puffing breath as they drew closer. 

Rey expected them to surround her and cut her off. She wasn’t expecting her bicycle to be yanked out from underneath her, sending her sprawling on the ground, badly scraping her knees and hands and bruising her hip. Her helmet hit the ground hard enough to stun her briefly. She groaned. 

“Get up, scavenger.” 

Rey pushed herself up to stand and glare at the masked Knight watching a few yards away. Everything he wore was black, from his military boots to the leather jacket stretched across his shoulders. His vehicle was leaning behind him, and beyond that the other Knights had gathered, observing the confrontation. The storm clouds stacked up in the sky. 

“Do you know where Skywalker is?” 

His voice was a low rumble that sent a flutter of nervous energy through her. He was tall and broad, and he clearly expected his superior size to intimidate her, not knowing how Finn had taught her to defend herself against larger opponents. She was injured and running wouldn’t do her any good, so instead she summoned her defiance. 

“I’m not telling you anything,” Rey spat, nursing her elbow. When he strode forward, she tried to scramble away, but he was quicker, touching her cheek. A low electrical current flowed through her and she found she couldn’t move, her muscles locked into place. 

“If you won’t tell me, your friend might, the one who was running away.” 

They didn’t know about the flash drive. She hadn’t mentioned it to Plutt, and Maz wouldn’t rat her out. No, they thought she knew where he was. 

He removed his hand, freeing her from the paralysis and letting her fall limply to the ground. She caught herself on hands and knees. 

“I haven’t told him anything,” Rey gasped, pushing back to kneel. “He doesn’t know.” 

“But you do.” 

Rey gritted her teeth, looking up in challenge. “I told you, I’m not telling you anything.” 

“We’ll see.” 

The Knight crouched down and placed his palm over her heart. With a stinging pulse of electricity, she fell unconscious. 

~---~

The girl didn’t wake during the journey back to the city. 

She had crumpled to the asphalt in a silent heap. He had scooped her up easily, finding her to be slim and wiry and surprisingly human for the force of fiery challenge he’d witnessed. He carried her back to where the other Knights watched and waited. The dingy single-family homes lining the street were silent behind their yards of crabgrass and dandelions, either empty or too frightened to show signs of life. 

“We’re leaving,” he’d said. 

“What about the other one?” one of the Knights had inquired. “They may know Skywalker’s location.” 

Kylo had sighed internally and turned his helmet to find the only bare head in their company. “You.” 

The informant who had guided them to the girl slipped off the magcycle where he rode behind one of the Elite. He didn’t have a helmet like the others, his nervousness clearly visible in the tightness around his mouth. “Yes, sir?” 

“Stay here. Find them and kill them before they connect with the Resistance.” 

The Knight had raised his chin. “Yes, sir. Consider it done.” 

Kylo hadn’t bothered replying, striding towards his magcycle with the girl still lolling in his arms. The other Elite Knights had prepared for the trip back into the city, mounting their rides and priming their mechanics by drawing on the Force. With the help of magnetic cuffs, Kylo had secured the girl on his magcycle so she wouldn’t slip off as they rode. 

She didn't wake when the storm rushed over them, dousing them with a torrent of rain. His body shielded her some as he leaned over with a forearm around her waist. She wore a waterproof jacket, which may have helped keep the majority of the shocking cold away, but the bradycardia he’d induced would keep her sedated regardless. 

He found himself considering her more as he drove onward, passing through the thunderstorm and into the steamy sunlight, wisps of evaporation curling up from the wet pavement under the harsh rays. Who was she? No one as far as he knew. Too young to remember the time before. The Knight who’d reported her said no one knew anything except she was a scavenger who lived on the edge of the town. 

She was nobody. Just a scavenger. 

A scavenger who knew where Skywalker was. 

It wasn’t about her, it was about the knowledge she had. 

After a few hours on the highway, the city sprouted from the horizon, pale and hazy, lit by the sinking sun, the sky painted in vibrant orange hues. The girl slumped against his back when they arrived. The dark circles under her eyes were distracting as he carried her into the Knight’s complex, up through the dim stairwell. The old lightbulbs flickered as he passed, underscored by the blue phosphorescence that was prevalent in all First Order buildings. 

The interrogation room was darker, the outside windows spray painted black, although night was falling outside anyway. The only illumination was a ring of phosphorescent light hanging above the rig in the center of the room. Kylo set the girl’s limp body in the rig, closing the cuffs around ankles and wrists that would keep her in place when she woke. Her breaths were slow and as in sleep, her brow wrinkled slightly with mild distress. _What does she dream of?_ Her eyes flickering behind their lids, the lashes pressing soft crescents above freckled cheeks. Kylo pulled himself back, realizing he was watching her too closely. 

Checking once more that she was secure, he crouched against the wall. He waited, watching, but she seemed content to slumber on. His patience ran out; he couldn’t afford to wait. 

Kylo stood, placing his hand over her heart again, and jolted her to wakefulness. 

~---~

Rey woke with a start, her lungs seizing with terror before she could remember why. 

The flash drive. Skywalker. The Resistance. The First Order. 

The Knights. They’d found her. 

The cold struck her first. Her clothing was drenched, and although the air was still, it wasn’t particularly warm. She must be inside somewhere. 

The next thing was the constrictions around her wrists. She twisted her body but was fixed in place by wrists and ankles. Her eyes flew open. 

She blinked several times, trying to clear her eyesight, and her heart rate slowed. Her vision wasn’t dim, the room had sparse lighting. 

And she wasn’t alone. 

The Knight who’d stood over her in the street was watching. He stood outside the ring of light, the blue glow glinting off his helmet. 

“Where am I?” she demanded. 

“You’re my guest.” 

“Where’s my friend?” She wasn’t hopeful for an answer, but as long as she was asking the questions, he couldn’t ask his. 

“If they’re not dead, they will be soon.” He shrugged. 

“You can’t,” she spit. “He doesn’t know anything.” 

“Does it matter?” 

Rey fell silent, glaring at him with all the venom she possessed. 

He took a step into the halo of light. “You look like you want to kill me.” 

She snarled. “You’re pretty smart for a faceless monster.” 

He paused, considering. Rey’s mind took the opportunity to remind her off all the things Finn had told her of the Knights. 

They could knock a horse flat with a touch. 

They could shoot lightning from their fingertips. 

They could read a person’s thoughts with a glance. 

They could lift a truck with their minds. 

She turned away until her heart no longer tried to claw up her throat. When she looked back, he was removing the helmet. 

He was not what she expected. 

She’d expected a hard face with burning eyes and a cruel mouth sneering at her in disgust or annoyance. Instead, he had soft eyes with a mild frown on his lips. Dark hair swept over his forehead, framing his face. In a different context, she would have described his visage as gentle, but guarded and removed. He studied her as closely as she was studying him. Rey scowled, refusing to be taken off guard. 

“Tell me about Skywalker,” he said. 

Rey inhaled. “I don’t know anything. It’s a name, that’s it.” 

“Skywalker was the unwitting architect of the Storm. He was the lead researcher on the project to harness solar energy via high altitude generators, the ultimate source of renewable energy. Instead, he managed to harvest enough energy to destroy modern civilization. And you’re going to tell me everything you know about him.” 

Rey absorbed this information. If the Knight was telling the truth, it would explain why the First Order was so desperate to find any information about Skywalker. If this scientist knew how to harness solar energy, now, with the earth’s protective ionosphere ravaged and the increase in high-power solar flares, the First Order would have access to unlimited energy. 

All this passed through her mind in a second, and when she focused her attention on him again, he was standing close, too close, close enough for his breath to feather over her cheek. 

“You know I can take whatever I want.” His eyes flickered down her form before boring into hers again. 

She recoiled, her imagination taking hold of the implications. He had intended to frighten her, but anger overwhelmed her. _Who the hell does he think he is?_

“Tell me,” he whispered. 

“Fuck off,” she hissed, meeting his stare and finding an unnerving amount of sadness. 

“Have it your way.” 

His hand reached for her face and she stiffened involuntarily, remembering how he’d paralyzed her in the middle of the street. A blue spark flew from his fingertip and she pulled as far back as she could in her restraints, clamping her teeth so she wouldn’t bite off her tongue. Her eyes locked on his. 

When he touched her cheek, the electric tingle ran through her body again. 

It was the same, but different. The hum under her skin intensified, raising the hairs on her neck and arms, pulsing along her nerves. Rather than paralyzing her, the current coincided with the anger running in her veins. The Knight sensed the difference, too. 

He shuddered. “Don’t be afraid. I feel it, too.” 

Rey turned her head away, not liking the way his words slipped over her face in an intimate breath. 

“You’re so alone,” he continued, his words sinking insidiously into her ear. “Left behind in life and memory. Nobody will remember you once you’re gone.” 

She bared her teeth at the Knight, struggling to contain the power he infused into her. “You... don’t know me.” 

He took a step back, keeping his touch on her temple. 

“Tell me about Skywalker,” he urged. 

“I said. Fuck. Off!” 

She leaned into the humming feeling, letting it feed into her anger so that it grew until she vibrated from the Force of it. She pushed against the restraints, challenging him. Her chest heaved. 

The Knight’s eyes widened and he half-stumbled back, but they were still connected by sizzling tendrils of electricity that writhed between them from his fingertips to her chest. She wasn’t burning despite the raw energy flowing between them. She could feel it too, a thrumming in the steel of the rig holding her captive and metal girders hidden behind walls, a rush of wind as all the static in the air was drawn towards them. 

Rey surged forward, rebounding off the restraints. As their eyes locked, he convulsed and she found herself inside his head. With mutual realization, he panicked, his stream-of-consciousness pouring over their connection in a torrent. It was difficult to parse the overload of information, but the common streams were easy to grasp. 

“You,” she accused, “you’re afraid!” 

They both knew it was true at the same moment. He fell back as though she had struck him, breathing hard. Rey sagged against her restraints but a triumphant smirk lifted her lips and she continued to stare. 

In a rush of fury, the Knight gathered himself, standing tall and sweeping out of the cell. 

~---~

Kylo ran to Snoke, still shaking from his confrontation with the girl. He held back a sigh of relief when he didn’t run into Hux on his way to the elevators, assuming the General was off attending to his projects. 

The ride to the top of the Towers was short, he was so charged and on edge. Snoke was waiting, likely warned by the rumble of the rising elevator car. 

“What is it, Ren? I wasn’t aware we had an appointment.” 

Kylo halted to catch his breath and gather his thoughts. 

“Well?” 

“We found a lead on Skywalker. A girl, a scavenger, who was trying to get information to the Resistance in one of the inhabited towns further south.” 

Snoke waited, letting Kylo simmer in his own silence as he found the words to continue. Kylo felt increasingly foolish for running to Snoke at the first obstacle, but – 

“I brought her back for interrogation, but she resisted the Force. I couldn’t break through to her.” 

“The girl resisted you?” Snoke scoffed. 

“She’s strong,” Kylo began, then amended, “She's strong with the Force, untrained but stronger than she knows.” 

“She will be exceedingly difficult to break if that is true,” Snoke mused, turning to look out over the nighttime city. The buildings were dark, gleaming faintly in the waxing moon and the auroras dancing and rippling across the clear sky. He faced Kylo again. “So you learned nothing of Skywalker?” 

“Not yet,” Kylo hedged. 

“What of her friend?” 

Kylo blanched. Someone had reported their mission to Snoke. 

“Ren believed the girl’s companion was no longer valuable to us.” 

Kylo’s head jerked to the darkened corner where Hux lounged. The fucker was here. He must have been eager to nail Kylo if he contended with the daunting number of stairs. 

Hux swaggered a bit. “Let them simply run away with a novice Knight on their tail with orders to kill _if_ they are caught. As a result, the Resistance may have learned the information regarding Skywalker,” he finished with a sneer. 

“Yes, thank you, Hux, for explaining that so concisely,” Snoke snapped. Hux took a hasty step back. 

“Sir –” Kylo started. 

“The Resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker,” Snoke declared, not for the first time. 

Hux tried again. “If I may, sir, we have their location. We only need your permission and we can destroy them once and for all.” 

Kylo held his breath, fixing his eyes on Snoke’s polished shoes. It was a point of contention between them: Hux wanted to eliminate the Resistance, insisting they had the resources and power to take them out of the picture permanently, but Kylo had argued they should find Skywalker and use his knowledge to generate the energy they needed to establish control. Snoke had always sided with Kylo, until now. 

“Good. Crush them. Prepare the Troops for departure.” 

“Yes, sir.” Hux gave Kylo a self-satisfied smile before leaving Snoke’s room. Kylo hoped he tripped and broke his neck on the stairs. 

“Sir, I can get the information from the girl. I just need your guidance.” 

Snoke stared him down. “If what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me.” 

Kylo opened his mouth to protest, but Snoke had turned away, dismissing him. Kylo’s jaw snapped shut and he left the room in a humiliated rage. 

~---~

When the Knight left the room, several bolts clanked closed across the door and locked her in. Angry footfalls receded, then silence. She straightened and took in the surroundings, pushing aside the odd series of moments that had occurred to focus on her predicament. 

Her ankles and wrists remained bound, locking her onto the reclined rig so she couldn’t turn her head to see where he’d gone. Otherwise the room appeared fairly unremarkable, about the size of her apartment, of standard height. And dark, with gloomy corners with no furnishings she could see. More significantly, she didn’t know where she was. 

Rey tugged against the restraints, hoping against hope they’d pop open. No such luck, unless she wanted bruises around her joints. She fell back against the rig once again and let her eyes close, taking inventory of herself. Her clothes were still uncomfortably damp, although the unusual struggle she’d had with the Knight had warmed her chilled bones. Otherwise she was fatigued but that was normal for her. 

What was unusual was the hum still running through her,, like sparks skittering under her skin. When she focused on it, the feeling went beyond her. Sensations ran through the metal of her restraints and leapt between the static in the air and murmured in the structure of the building. 

A thrill ran through her. Finn had said that the Knights could do impossible things. If she could do what they could do... 

The thought had barely crossed her mind when a tremor ran through the restraints and they clicked open. Rey tentatively lifted her arms free. When nothing happened, she quickly clambered away and spun around to take in the room, expecting a trick. It was just her, the restraining rig, and the door. She walked quickly to the door and tried the handle but it didn’t budge. 

“Okay, Rey, you can do this.” She placed her palms flat on the surface, imagining what the locking mechanism could look like. She gasped. The image leapt into her mind’s eye and she envisioned them withdrawing one at a time. 

The door swung open under the light pressure from her fingertips. “Holy shit,” she whispered, pushing it further. She peered into a dark hallway and listened for sounds. Nothing stirred. Rey stepped out of the door, stood silent, and waited. Nothing except the faintest echo of her breath. 

Rey started down the hallway, feeling along the wall. The air didn’t move. The darkness pressed in. Rey tried to push down the rising panic. She was used to open spaces, sunlight, and fresh air. She reached for that new sensation again, seeking out the tendrils of power that had guided her so far. 

Rey found she was in an enormous building, bigger than anything she could remember seeing. She gasped. The metal girders forming the superstructure pulled on her senses. It was huge, but she was oriented enough to continue on towards the stairwell at the end of the wide hallway. 

The first Knight she encountered was startled to find her descending the barely-illuminated stairs. He emerged from a door, saw her, and shouted an indignant, “Hey!” before Rey lashed out and smashed his head against the handrail. He slumped to the ground with a groan, and Rey was running down the stairs, leaping over several at a time in a breakneck dash towards the ground. Any signage that would’ve guided her was torn from the walls, but she followed her never-failing instinct. 

No one else had discovered her by the time she stumbled out onto a narrow street. It was night, but she could still sense the oppressive weight of the massive structures towering above her. The distant sky, shimmered with emerald and sapphire ionized lashes. 

She was in the city. The Knights had kidnapped her and dragged her all the way back to the city. This was the furthest she had ever been from home. The realization made her stumble in the alley. 

She needed to get back. She had been away too long. Her stomach twisted at the thought. She needed to keep it together, now more than ever. Rey jogged to the end of the alleyway, flattened herself near the corner, and glanced around it. Two figures in white uniforms marched up the sidewalk towards her, glowing pale in the moonlight that glinted off their weapons. Rey ducked away, slipping back down the alley. 

Her boots splashed in an oily puddle, the noise deafening in her ears. Like a nightmare, shouts rose up behind her. Rey began to sprint without looking back. Loud boots clomped on the pavement. She burst out onto another street, this one facing a river in a concrete channel that flowed murky in the night’s luminescence. She didn’t pause to make up a plan but dove to the left, hoping to outpace whatever was chasing her. 

She didn’t stop until she was gasping for breath, leaning against the side of yet another towering building. Her pursuers were falling behind and she had successfully avoided other patrols, which were frequent enough to give her a few more scares. Still, if she wasn’t lost before, she definitely was lost now. 

“Hey!” 

Rey caught a scream at the whispered shout coming from a recessed doorway. She got ready to bolt when the voice asked, “Are you Finn’s friend?” 

She froze as the voice’s owner stepped out, offering her a hand. “I’m Poe, and I’m with the Resistance.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment and kudos to let me know what you think - I love to get your feedback! Next update Oct 28.


	3. in search of your glory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://a-nerd-obsessed.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/nerd_obsessed)

Kylo made his way across the river, trepidation roiling in his gut. He was an idiot to run to Snoke at the first obstacle rather than deal with the girl himself. Snoke had lost confidence in him and he had lost the girl to Snoke. 

He shuddered, remembering how she had risen up and resisted him, the defiance and righteous anger hardening her face. She had turned his own power on him, but more than that, she had altered it. He could  _ feel _ her, something magnetic pulling at him. It was more than the rug behind pulled out from under him, it was the earth’s poles reversing. 

Kylo found himself jogging, eager to get back to the girl – shit, he hadn’t even discovered her name. He was useless. He would speak to her again, take a different approach, before he took her to Snoke. It was his last shot at regaining some of Snoke’s respect, and he was curious, too. 

The Knight’s tower stood like a wasp nest, the scalloped edges running along the circumference of the building inked in shadow against the dark sky. His eyes fixed on the room where he’d left her, hidden behind spray-painted windows. The short time since he’d left her had only served to magnify his awareness of the connection between them. Nearer the Knight’s tower, something was wrong. Kylo entered the building with a growing sense of unease. No one was in the lobby; most of the Knights were still asleep and the entrance only yielded to Force users. 

His unease turned to dread when he came across an unconscious Knight in the stairwell, a pool of dark blood dripping from his ear. Kylo took the stairs four at a time until he reached the floor with the holding cells. He knew before he made it to the corridor. The flickering lightbulbs revealed the door ajar and the girl, gone. 

“No,” he muttered, stalking around the empty rig. “No.” 

His yell reverberated around the space, followed by the screech of crumpling metal as he telekinetically crushed the useless restraining rig. He panted, his rage brimming over with nothing in the room to receive his wrath. 

He had to find her. And he would, because she called to him. He was the compass needle, she was true north. 

He wrenched the worthless door from its hinges, letting it clang onto the floor, and stalked away to rouse the Knights. 

~---~

“This is the Resistance?” Rey asked. The dank warehouse was a far cry from the militia headquarters she’d imagined. Towering piles of crates wrapped in plastic glimmered in the first morning light seeping through high windows. The air smelled of damp concrete with a whiff of rotting garbage. 

Her disappointment must have shown on her face because Poe laughed. “Yes and no. This is one of our safe houses. We’re going to stay here until we can get you out of the city.” 

“We?” 

“Yes. Rose is around here somewhere.” 

Rey clamped a hand over her mouth when another person appeared from behind one of the stacks. 

“Shhh!” the other woman exclaimed in an undertone. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just got in from checking the perimeter. I’m Rose.” 

“I’m Rey,” she responded. 

“Rey?” Rose asked, her eyebrows raised. 

“Um, yes?” 

“What the hell happened out there?” Rose demanded of Poe. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything. We’re clear for now,” Poe said. 

“Uh huh,” Rose said suspiciously. 

“Alright, I don’t appreciate that tone. Back to the room,” Poe grumbled. 

Rose led them back to what once must have been an office of sorts for the warehouse. Bedrolls lay stacked in the corner with fresh water containers and nonperishable food. Two hiking packs sat against the wall opposite a radio receiver. 

“Do you know how to use a firearm?” Poe asked, unzipping one of the packs and rifling through it. Rose sat down, tossing things out of her way.. 

“Me?” Rey asked. 

Poe looked up at her. 

She swallowed and shook her head. “In theory, maybe. I’ve never actually used one.” 

Poe nodded. “It’ll just be Rose and me then. I don’t want any surprises.” 

Rey shifted her feet, not moving from the doorway. “I hate to ask this now, but what’s going on?” 

Rose looked from her to Poe. “Yes, I’d also like to know. There wasn’t supposed to be extraction. How’d you get her out?” 

“He didn’t,” Rey corrected. 

“Yeah, I didn’t. I’m not that crazy, Rose, no matter what you think. She broke out on her own,” he said. 

Rose’s forehead wrinkled. “Okay, Rey, you’re going to have to back up and explain how you got out.” 

“Sure,” Rey said. “If you tell me what happened to Finn. You said you knew him.” 

Poe sat down on one of the boxes of food. “Rose should probably explain that bit.” 

Rose nodded. “I’m a recruiter for the Resistance in some of the towns south of here. I’ve been trying to get Finn to join up a long time, but he’s refused.” 

“He told me about that,” Rey said. 

Rose gave a little shrug. “Yes, well, he had his reasons. Anyway, he found me after you were taken. And gave us the flash drive on the condition that we’d get you out of wherever they’d taken you.” 

“He would’ve come, but the general said no,” Poe added. “Almost had to lock him up.” 

Rey smiled for the first time since the kidnapping. “He’s loyal like that.” 

Rose smiled back. “Maybe you could convince him to be loyal to the Resistance.” 

“I’ll think about it,” she said. 

“Anyway,” Rose continued, “one of our sources said you had been taken back to the city. We followed and Poe was just supposed to do some  _ reconnaissance  _ but then he came back with you –” 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Poe said. “I followed orders, alright? Rey was just ahead of schedule.” 

“I didn’t expect anyone to come for me,” Rey said. “It wasn’t just because Finn asked, though, was it?” 

Poe gave her a knowing look. “Finn wasn’t able to tell us what you knew about what was on the flash drive. We wanted to make sure that the information on Skywalker hadn’t gotten to the First Order.” 

“I didn’t tell them anything,” Rey said. “I wasn’t there long, and whatever interrogation the Knight used backfired on him.” 

Rose frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“I don’t know exactly,” Rey answered. “He tried to make me talk using the Force somehow. It... rebounded or something.” 

Poe looked speculative. “Is that how you got out?” 

“Not right away. He left; I think he was angry. After a while I just... I don’t know how to describe it. But the restraints and the doors opened for me. I made it to the street and then I found you and you said Finn’s name and that was it.” 

The Resistance fighters contemplated her. “I’ve never heard of that happening before,” Poe said. “If anyone escapes the First Order, it’s certainly not from the Knights.” 

Rey shrugged again and smothered a sudden yawn. “I don’t really know what happened. I threw him off, though. He seemed like he had seen a ghost.” 

“Did you catch his name?” Rose inquired. 

“No.” 

Rose gave her a sympathetic smile. “No worries. You’re tired and hungry, I’ll bet.” 

“Actually, could I have some water? I can’t remember the last time I had something to drink.” 

The Resistance fighters quickly plied her with food, water, and a fresh change of clothes before she was offered one of the bedrolls. Any questions about their plans were met with assurances that it could wait until that night; meanwhile they could rest. Rey might have disagreed, but her fatigue convinced her that she could let it slide. 

Rey fell into a fitful sleep unhelped by the stuffy, warm air in the warehouse. Rose and Poe whispered together but their words didn’t break through her half-conscious state. What woke her was a now-familiar feeling that tingled down her spine. She sat up abruptly, startling Poe who sat in the doorway keeping watch. 

“It’s okay, Rey,” he whispered. “You’re with the Resistance, remember?” 

“Something’s coming!” she hissed, throwing off the blanket. 

“What do you mean?” Poe said, voice sharp with concern. 

“I don’t know,” she said, pulling on her boots. “But we’ve got to go.” 

“Rey –” 

“What’s happening?” Rose asked, roused by Rey’s activities. 

“We need to leave,” Rey reiterated. 

“What? Why?” 

Rey recognized it, a pull behind her sternum and a buzzing in her fingertips. “He’s here.” 

“Who?” Poe demanded, rising to his feet. 

“The Knight,” Rey said, urgency spilling over. She moved the door. 

“How? We weren’t followed and they couldn’t possibly know –” 

“I think he can sense me.” Poe and Rose stared blankly at her and Rey threw her hands up. “I don’t know how, alright? We need to leave, please!” 

Her desperation spurred them to action, gathering their gear and putting on their packs before creeping through the stacks of crates. 

“Do you know how close?” Poe mouthed in her ear. 

“He’s in the neighborhood and he’s getting closer,” she whispered back. 

“Fuck. Wonderful.” 

They fell into tense silence and exited the warehouse. Poe led them between the sprawling buildings towards the train tracks where cargo cars sat rusting on the rails. Rey began to sweat, the prickling in her spine crawling out her limbs. The accompanying pull had become so strong she could pinpoint his position, approaching from the east. 

Poe held up a hand to halt their little troop behind a thicket of overgrown grasses. They all crouched, avoiding the broken glass and rusting chains in the dirt, and scanned the area. 

“Rey?” he whispered. 

“Still close. If you need to leave me –” 

“Not an option. You’re with us,” Rose said fiercely, her words setting off a flood of relief through Rey. 

Poe shook his head. “We’re getting out of here. Let’s not jump to the extreme yet. We don’t even know for sure –” 

“There!” Rey hissed, pointing. 

A masked Knight walked slowly down the tracks, pausing beside each car to look inside. It was silent except for the faint crunch of gravel carried on the cool morning breeze. The Resistance group stayed breathless and still. 

“Is that him?” Poe asked when the Knight had moved further away. 

“No,” Rey whispered. This Knight was too short and while she could sense their presence if she focused on them, the pull directed her elsewhere. “But it won’t be long.” 

“Alright. Wait until I signal.” Poe rose to a crouch and darted across the stretch of empty ground to the abandoned train. He slipped under the coupling and peered out the other side before gesturing for them to follow. Rey leapt up, eager to move further from the Knights. 

Rose screamed. “Let me go!” 

The short Knight had reappeared, an arm wrapped around Rose’s neck with her hands pinned behind her back. She choked and thrashed, but the Knight was immovable. 

“Rose!” Poe shouted. 

Rey was paralyzed by a flash of panic. The Knights – more were likely lurking around – would converge on them within a minute, and her new potential friends would be captured by the First Order because of her. If it was her, fine, but they hadn’t signed up for this. 

“Let her go!” Rey shouted. The Knight didn’t visibly respond but Rose wheezed against the arm crushing her windpipe. 

Rey summoned her anger, channeling it within the energy buzzing at her fingertips. A length of chain rose from the dry grass, whipping around the Knight’s leg and wrenching it back so they stumbled. They didn’t let go, but it was enough of a distraction that Rose was able to pull free and run towards her friends. 

“Go!” she shouted. Rose sprinted past her. Rey jerked her fist to the side, yanking the chain as it wound up the Knight’s torso. They collapsed on the ground and she wrested control of the chain, flinging it away. 

“Come on, Rey!” 

“Not yet!” she answered, refusing to turn her back on the Knight scrambling away from her. Her Knight was close, too close, but if she didn’t take care of this assailant they wouldn’t make it anywhere. 

She inhaled and spread her arms wide. A train car behind her groaned and whined, the couplings snapping with ear-piercing shrieks. It wobbled, rising into the air and hovering overhead. The Knight froze as Rey strained, focusing her energy. It blocked out the morning sun, catching the Knight in its shadow. She heaved, tossing the railcar at them and they only raised their hands in time to redirect the crushing weight to the side so that it smashed into the side of the warehouse, collapsing part of the roof and shaking the ground. Everyone in a five-mile radius knew where they were. 

“Holy fuck!” Poe shouted, although in terror or excitement Rey couldn’t discern. She wobbled, a little drained by her excessive exertion. Dust puffed up from the collapsed structure and she coughed, covering her eyes. She wished she was able to get more sleep before everything had gone to shit. 

“Rey!” 

She spun around at Rose’s cry, remembering the danger closing in. She had only taken a step when the settling dust revealed the dark-clothed pack a few dozen yards away, headed by a tall figure that she would recognize anywhere, even masked and hooded. 

Her Knight was here. 

~---~

The girl clearly didn’t know where she was going. She had begun by heading north, easing away from the lake and the concrete canyons of downtown. The pull shifted, directing him southwards towards the outskirts of the city. He couldn’t doubt the reality of the magnetic draw in his chest. It pulsed with a strong sense of her, the defiance and vivacity flooding his system in a way that was undeniable. 

The hollow storefronts and abandoned tenements gave way to warehouses that had once supplied the city’s population. The pull was growing stronger as though she had stopped moving. 

“Create a net around the neighborhood and move in,” Kylo ordered. The Elite Knights, who had been following his inexplicable roundabout path through the city without comment, dispersed silently. The sky lightened over the past hour and the sun began to ease above the horizon. 

She was aware of him. And whether she knew it or not, that awareness made the pull stronger. 

But she was fighting it. 

Their proximity deepened the pull between them, bringing not only a sense of her presence, but her emotions as well. Anger, fear, determination, concern... What she could sense from him? 

His prowling approach was abruptly altered by the unnatural screech of metal and several shouts. He broke into a run. The ground trembled beneath his feet over a cacophony. When he came around the last corner, it was chaos. 

Dust billowed into the air from where an empty box car lay crumpled on the toppled side of the warehouse. His Knights materialized behind him as the debris settled. 

“Rey!” 

Kylo’s eyes darted to the source of the cry, then to the one it was intended to warn. 

It was the girl. The girl’s name was Rey. 

Recognition hardened her face. He couldn’t help it; he pulled on the connection between them. She snarled. 

“The girl is mine. Don’t let her leave,” he ordered his Knights. His focus shot to the man who had called her name standing on the far side of the tracks and the woman next to them. He didn’t recognize them. “Dispose of the others.” 

The Knights surged forward. 

Kylo started towards her, his tread swift and purposeful. 

“Go!” the girl yelled, and her friends hesitated only a moment before running away through the rail yard, bounding over the tracks. 

Kylo was fixed on her, and she on him, oblivious to the shouts and calls of the Knights. She stretched a hand to the side and the train cars groaned. Kylo hastened towards her, but the heavy containers were drawn off the track as she manipulated the boxcar between them. The dislodged wheels grated across the gravel and dirt with rumbles and screaks. The Knights fell back with cries of astonishment. 

He couldn’t see her anymore, but her power thrummed through all the metal surrounding them, aligning the electrons in the air. She was pushing everything away, but he was her polar opposite, the Force inexorably calling him to her. 

Kylo raised his hands to halt the slow advance of the rail cars. The Knights had scattered, unnerved and confounded by the unexpected resistance. Kylo’s focus was on the girl, on the Force swarming out from her. The steel of the containers began to warp, shuddering and groaning. He closed his eyes, summoning a strength he hadn’t used until her. The metal tore like paper, jagged edges peeling back and shards of steel flung free, though none touched him. The container burst apart, unable to withstand the onslaught of their opposing strength. 

Kylo came to his senses with two of his Knights crouched over him. His helmet protected his head against the worst of the explosion, but the beginnings of several deep bruises ached under the shooting pains in his joints as he sat up. 

“The girl?” he rasped. 

“Gone, sir.” 

Kylo sat up and stared at the empty scene, the twisted remnants of the container framing where she had been, leaving an absence, devoid of the powerful magnetic force. 

Kylo hissed and rose to his feet. He was only out for a few minutes, but she had vanished and he had no more excuses. 

~---~

Hux was waiting for him upon his return. The Knights behind Kylo were silent and unmoving as sentinels. 

“We’ve located Skywalker.” 

Kylo wanted to choke the man. “What?” 

“We found where the girl accessed the files on the drive. Seems the system automatically backed up the files, making it quite simple to retrieve.” 

Kylo ignored the implicit insult. “Where is he?” 

“Near the Resistance’s home,” Hux admitted. 

Kylo straightened. Hux’s Troopers wouldn’t move quickly enough to secure Skywalker before the Resistance. Not if they had the flash drive. The First Order needed Kylo’s Knights on their magcycles to arrive first. 

“We’ll leave immediately.” Kylo moved to brush past Hux towards the garage, but the general grabbed his jacket. 

“You can’t afford to mess this up,” Hux hissed in his ear. “This is your last chance.” 

Kylo wrenched himself free. “Don’t forget your place, Hux. There are forces at work that you don’t understand.” 

“Your relevance hangs on your uniqueness, Ren. Take that away, and you are no longer necessary to Snoke’s schemes. Is that why the girl evaded you once again? I hear her power rivals your own.” 

A jolt of fear sliced down his spine. “Your ignorance speaks for itself, Hux. Now, let me get on with my job.” 

“As long as you remember,” Hux said with a thin smile. 

The veiled threats stayed with him as the Knights glided out of the city on their magcycles that afternoon to hunt the last Skywalker once again. 

~---~

Poe and Rose were astonished and not a little frightened by Rey’s display in the train yard, especially when she had collapsed in the aftermath of her duel with the Knight. Poe had had to haul her over his shoulders for a few blocks before she’d regained consciousness. Rose tried to soothe her disorientation as she helped her to stand. 

“Where is he?” Rey said, the words slightly slurred as she shook off the last vestiges of unconsciousness. 

“Don’t know. It’s chaos back there.” 

“He’ll come for me.” 

“Don’t worry. We’re getting out of here,” Rose said, keeping a hand on Rey’s arm to steady her. Rose nodded to Poe and they continued their course away from the train yard. 

“That Knight, that was Kylo Ren, their leader,” Rose whispered as she walked beside Rey. “I’ve only seen him once, and it was not good.” 

With his power, it made sense that he would be in a position of authority, but what that meant for her, for their bond… Rey couldn’t reassure Rose with what she didn’t understand. 

Their little group stumbled a few more blocks until Poe pulled a tarp off a sedan with faded license plates, paint and rust bubbling from a long scrape down the side. “Get in. We need to get away from the lake,” he said. 

Rey and Rose bundled into the back seat while Poe refilled the tank with a canister from the trunk. 

“How did you do that?” Rose asked in an undertone. 

“Do what?” Rey asked, though she knew. 

“I’ve only seen the Knights use that kind of power,” Rose said. Rey couldn’t parse the emotion behind Rose’s question. Was it fearful? Awed? Accusatory? Excited? 

“I’ve never done that before,” she said. “But… that power. It’s like something inside me has always been there. And now it's awake.” She didn’t add,  _ And I'm afraid. I do not know what it is, or what to do with it. _

Poe slid into the front seat, not bothering to quiet the creak and slam of the door in his haste. Rey jumped when the engine turned over, coughing several times before catching into a steady purr. She’d never been in a working vehicle before, but she was too overwrought to be excited. 

“I don’t know what happened,” Rey said quietly to Rose. Poe drove them careening down the street. “But now I could use it, rather than it using me.” 

She didn’t tell Rose that she guessed what had happened. That something in the Knight had called to something in her. Or that could feel him, the Knight, Kylo Ren, though her perception of him dwindled as distance stretched between them. 

Rey was too exhausted to pay attention by the time they arrived at the Resistance’s headquarters. It was well into the night when they crossed a great bridge arcing over a dark, deep river to another silent city. This one was smaller, comprised of tall buildings with stone effacement rather than steel and glass. 

When they stumbled into the Resistance headquarters, Rey staggered under Finn’s eager hug. 

“Rey!” 

“Hey, Finn.” 

“I shouldn’t have left you behind. I’m so, so sorry.” 

“I told you to. It’s not your fault.” 

“I came to the Resistance, I tried to get help.” 

“I know, and you did. Thank you, Finn.” 

“Rey.” Rose touched her elbow. “I’m sorry, but we need to hear whatever you can tell us. I’ll stay with Finn and we’ll come find you immediately afterwards, okay?” 

Rey nodded. “Sure.” 

“Follow me,” Poe said and led her up a flight of stairs into a maze of office cubicles. He went through a door without knocking and held it open to a glassed-in conference room. A hand-cranked lantern sat in the center of the table, giving the faces of those gathered an eerie look. 

“This is Rey,” Poe said to everyone. A gray-haired woman with a stern chin stood and came to her. 

“My name’s Leia. It’s so good to meet you,” the older woman said, clasping her hands. “Finn had told us so much about you, and I was worried when I’d heard what had happened. You were so brave in making sure that information got to us, and I can’t thank you enough.” 

Rey smiled, unsure of how to respond. 

“I know you are exhausted, but whatever you can tell us is valuable.” 

“I got some sleep in the car on the way here,” Rey said, forcing herself to ignore the fatigue weighing on her shoulders. “What do you need to know?” 

“We need to confirm that they didn’t get anything from you. That information in the wrong hands could be devastating to our operations.” 

Rey shook her head. “I escaped before he could really interrogate me. I mean, he tried, but I stopped him before he could ask.” 

“Tell her about the train yard,” Poe urged, his face shadowed and looking unnervingly intense. Rey’s eyes darted around the room, uncertain of how to explain what had happened when she didn’t understand how it had happened. 

“I stopped the Knights from pursuing us.” 

“It was incredible,” Poe put in. 

“How?” Leia asked. 

Rey glanced at Poe, who gave her a small smile. “I was able to... counteract his abilities, with my own.” 

The others in the room shared significant glances. 

“I don’t know how. It was like I could feel this energy and control it and...” Rey drifted off, remembering the moment she’d inserted herself into Kylo Ren’s mind, his multitudinous memories and thoughts she didn’t have time to process. She fell silent, unsettled. 

Another woman spoke up. “And you saw this, Poe?” 

Poe nodded. 

“I’m sure we’ll have more questions later, but now we must focus on Luke,” Leia said. 

“Luke?” Rey asked. 

“Skywalker,” Poe supplied. 

“Luke knows too much about the Storm, and we all recognize that Snoke is too eager to learn as much as he can,” Leia said. “The Resistance is one of the only obstacles between Snoke and his goals. It’s up to us to make sure he can’t get what Luke knows.” 

The door to the meeting room crashed open, revealing a diminutive but familiar figure. 

“Maz?” Rey asked, surprised and confused. 

“Fancy meeting you here.” Maz shifted her attention to Leia. “The First Order knows. They found my place and confiscated my computers.” 

“But we have the drive.” 

Maz shook her head. “They may have recovered the cached versions of the data.” 

The room burst into heated discussion until Leia raised her hand and silenced them. “We have already planned for this. We’ll just have to move quickly to extract him before the First Order gets to him.” 

The room burst into activity, most of them hastily exiting to see to their preparations. 

Rey turned to Maz. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think about if they’d come for you.” 

Maz waved a hand. “I’m just as guilty. I should have given you more warning. I’m glad you’re alright.” 

“Was anyone hurt?” 

“No, the Townies cleared out when the Troops arrived,” Maz said. “It would have been a different story if the Knights had come. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling now, dear girl.” 

Rey accepted Maz’s hug. “Thanks, Maz.” 

She turned to Leia, who was sitting at the head of the table, her head in her hands. “Will the Knights be there?” 

Leia sighed. “Most likely.” 

“I need to be there.” 

“No.” 

“No?” 

“This is a Resistance operation, Rey. You’re untrained. What would you do?” 

“Distraction?” Rey offered. “I’d stay out of the way. I can distract the Knights, if they’re there. I can sense him and draw him away. My... power pulls on him.” 

Leia considered. “I still can’t condone sending an untrained operative on an assignment.” 

“I’ll go on my own, then.” 

“Why?” 

“Skywalker is important to the First Order, and I don’t want them to win. And they know because of me.” 

Leia frowned. “You didn’t cause this situation, Rey.” 

“I contributed,” Rey insisted. “And I’d like to do what I can to fix it.” 

Leia gave a slow nod. “It will be dangerous. I can’t guarantee your safety.” 

“I understand. The Resistance already risked something for me. I’d like to pay that back.” 

“Alright. I may regret this decision, but we need every chance we can get.” 

~---~

The Knights surrounded the house, creating a perimeter at the bottom of the hill, melding with the tree shadows. The ionized rainbows in the upper atmosphere were only visible through the silhouettes of leaves above. The driveway was overgrown gravel, a curving wave of grasses rising towards the hill’s crown. The house was silent, empty. The soft susurration of nocturnal insects and the gentle creaking of tree branches were the only sounds in the woods. 

The location was devoid of metal, no live electrical wires to draw power from. The Knights would have to rely on their natural skills, which were more than adequate to carry out this task. 

They began to ascend the hill, stalking the shadows. He had grown accustomed to the awareness of her in his mind, but Kylo stumbled when the girl abruptly tug on the bond, her power calling to him. 

She was near. 

The Resistance must have come for Skywalker. He signaled the other Knights, warning them that they were not alone. 

She was moving further away. He halted to be sure what he was sensing was true. The Knights continued to climb through the trees. 

It was a trap, most likely. If it wasn’t, if she was with the Resistance, that meant they had gotten to Skywalker first and gone. Unless she had sensed him and warned the others to turn back. 

He was moving before he knew it, back down the hill towards the girl. The Knights could handle Skywalker if he was still there. The girl was valuable; Snoke would be pleased with him for retrieving them both. 

His path determined, Kylo followed the girl’s trail down towards the river. He was gaining ground, or had she stopped? His stride lengthened, drawn by this strange girl’s mysterious magnetism. He descended to the shoreline, reluctant to step out of the protection of the trees into the starshine. The river lapped against its bank. 

Something moved in the trees further along the river. It was only a shadow against the glimmering waves, but it was her. 

Kylo moved after her, his mouth open to call to her. 

A gunshot broke through the night. Kylo flinched, throwing up his hands. The bullet was frozen in the air, shivering in a magnetic stasis. 

He looked towards the trees where the shot had originated. A man Kylo recognized from the city stood with his weapon aimed to fire again. 

“Poe!” the girl shouted, a frantic edge to her voice. Kylo’s eyes jerked towards her. He drew on his power, pulling the pistol from the man’s grip. The man cried out as it was yanked away, accidentally triggering another shot. Kylo deflected the bullet, expecting it this time. The firearm clattered against the wave-smoothed stones. Kylo pulled again, summoning the pistol and sending it spinning through the air towards him. 

“No!” the girl shouted, the whites of her eyes gleaming in the dark. Instead, she thrust out a hand and the weapon curved through the air. Kylo barely dodged the hurtling object as it altered its course, flying out over the river to settle into the deep water with a plop. 

“Poe, go get help,” the girl said. “I’ve got this.” 

“But -” 

“Go.” 

The man hesitated before turning on his heel and running up the bank into the forest. 

They faced each other. 

“Rey,” Kylo growled. She flinched at the sound of her name from his mouth. “I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Kylo Ren,” she returned. “I don’t understand.” 

“I don’t either,” he admitted. “But I want to understand. I want to understand this between us.” 

Their connection surged with energy, and she exhaled. “I don’t trust you,” Rey said. “You’re with the First Order.” 

Kylo didn’t reply. 

“Why do you want Skywalker?” 

“I don’t care about Skywalker. The First Order wants him.” 

“You are First Order.” 

He was moving towards her, but he stopped, stones shifting under his boots. “I answer to them, yes, but what we have... it could change that.” 

She laughed. “You know I’m stalling until they arrive, don’t you?” 

“I can teach you. I can teach you about this,” he said, gesturing between them. 

Rey stepped back. “What do you mean?” 

“This.” He took off his gloves and held up his hands. Lightning sparked between his fingertips. “I can teach you the ways of the Force.” 

“I won’t be one of your Knights,” she hissed. “Whatever you did to me, you can’t force me to serve the First Order.” 

“I didn’t do this to you,” he insisted, taking a step forward for every one she took back. “This power, it’s in you, Rey, and now it’s been awakened.” She shivered and he paused, his voice dropping low. “You’re stronger than you know.” 

“You’re lying.” 

“I’m not. Can’t you feel it?” 

She could; this close together, his sense of her was refined, emotions and moods distinctive in the fluctuations of her power. “Aren’t you a little bit curious?” he asked. 

“No.” She answered too quickly, and Kylo tamed a smile before she could make it out in the dark. “Are you?” she said. 

“Yes.” 

Rey considered. She was touching things she didn’t know or understand, but someone like her, earnest and willing to learn with her, and that that was unique, a rarity in a world of desperate survivors. 

And if he didn’t care about the First Order’s mission, if he would turn against the First Order, she could help Finn and the Resistance. 

Rey took a step towards him. “What are you offering?” 

“Join me,” he said, summoning his confidence. “Please.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment and kudos! I love to hear your feedback on this story 😊
> 
> Final update Oct 30


	4. write our names in the wet concrete

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://a-nerd-obsessed.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/nerd_obsessed)

The woods were a cacophony. Too loud gunshots, shouts, a few screams. Footsteps, growls of challenge, branches snapping. 

His hand found hers, drawing her around the base of the hill where Skywalker’s cabin lay hidden. They moved in tandem, pausing at the same moment to let a shadowy figure race past, beginning again in unspoken agreement. The adrenaline and the blurred aspect of a forest at night gave Rey the feeling of passing through a dreamscape, as though she had the substance of phantom. Yet his palm was warm in hers through the thin material of his glove. It grounded her, keeping her present. 

A low moan jolted her from her illusion. They froze. 

She gripped his hand tighter. “Kylo…” 

Rey saw the silhouette of his head turn, scanning the undergrowth. Another pained moan drew their attention to a break in the brush. Rey stepped out from behind Kylo and crept towards the sound. He tried to snatch her back but she pulled away. 

Two figures lay crumpled on the forest floor, surrounded by broken foliage. It took a bit longer to put the scene together in the darkness, but Rey could imagine one of the men at her feet had been dragged this far by the marks in the earth. Kylo’s shadow moved in that direction, crouched over another body. 

“This one’s dead,” Kylo said in a low tone, nudging the body with his boot. “Resistance.” 

Rey knelt. A man, a Knight based on his clothing, lay unmoving on his stomach. The other moved faintly with the rise and fall of breath in his chest. The dark stain spreading from his abdomen was clearly visible in the chiaroscuro of moonlight. Rey was a distant acquaintance with death, but once so much blood was lost there was no coming back, and he was near that point. 

Kylo’s hand came down on her shoulder, his voice calm and deep as he said, “We need to go.” 

A raspy exhale. “Ben?” 

Kylo stiffened. 

"No, it’s not Ben,” Rey said, leaning closer to discern the features of the man’s face. “What’s your name?” 

“He’s dangerous,” Kylo snarled, hooking her arm and yanking her to her feet. 

“He’s dying!” 

“Please, Ben,” the man rasped. 

Rey wrenched free of Kylo’s grip and knelt again. “We’ll find help. What’s your name?” 

The man’s eyes glimmered in the darkness. His throat bobbed. “Luke.” 

_Luke. As in, Skywalker?_ Rey gasped. “Kylo, we have to –” 

“No. We’re leaving.” Kylo turned away, but the man grasped her hand with astonishing strength. 

“I’m sorry,” Skywalker said. His eyes appeared unfocused; he wasn’t looking at her, but at the man who stood behind her. “I’m sorry,” he repeated between shuddering breaths. “It wasn’t supposed to go this way.” 

“Save your breath,” Kylo snapped with a shocking menace. “You’re dying.” 

“No one was supposed to die,” Skywalker continued, unhindered. “It was supposed to save lives.” 

Rey looked up at Kylo, but his cold expression was unyielding. 

“Tell your mother –” He groaned, and a fresh wave of blood spread across his shirt. “Tell Leia it was a mistake,” he pleaded. 

“Why didn’t you tell her yourself?” Kylo hissed. The energy around him was rising, the hairs on the back of Rey’s neck standing on end. 

“I’m sorry.” Tears were streaming down Skywalker’s face. 

“Kylo?” Rey whispered. Skywalker was murmuring, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” on a loop, his eyes sliding shut. Blood pulsed from his side. She glanced up at Kylo and when she looked down again, Skywalker had stilled. Rey fumbled for a heartbeat. “He’s dead.” 

“Let’s go.” 

“But –” 

“We can’t be found here.” 

Rey spared one more look at the dead man. She shared no connection to Skywalker besides the flash drive she’d inadvertently discovered, but it still felt wrong to watch him die and do nothing. After another second of hesitation, she stood. Sentiment had never helped her thus far. 

Rey followed Kylo through the night-hushed trees standing like silent witnesses. He didn’t falter, his stride long and sure. She would be lost without him; she couldn’t make out the auroras through the leaves’ silhouettes above, but his confidence soothed her. It hummed between them, the pull that reverberated with the shades of their emotions and intentions. It was the opposite of distracting, being so in tune with another, but she had questions. 

Their path burst out onto a narrow, paved road, an alley of moonlight between the shadowed forest. 

“He knew you, didn’t he?” Rey demanded. 

Kylo took in her resolute posture. “Not here. We’re too visible.” 

“What was that?” 

“The First Order failed their extraction.” He shrugged. “Skywalker died.” 

“Don’t bullshit me. I can sense you’re lying. He said –” 

Kylo shoved her back under the shadow of the trees. “Lower your voice.” 

“Answer my question.” 

Kylo struggled with himself. He sighed. “He was my uncle.” 

"What?” Rey blinked. 

“He was my uncle, although he forgot it most of the time.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“Do you remember what happened? The Storm?” 

“Not really. I was too young –” 

“It was Skywalker’s research. He said it was supposed to provide renewable energy for everyone, that it would be the greatest thing to ever happen to humanity. Instead, I watched my father die and the world was reduced to what we know now.” He gritted his teeth. “Snoke said he would undo what Luke did.” 

Leia had mentioned the name earlier, so Rey asked, “Snoke?” 

“He leads the First Order. He said we could help people, that he would make my father’s death worth something instead of – but he – I haven’t –” 

“The First Order is making things worse, Kylo.” 

“Rey. I killed my father.” 

Rey blinked into the deadly quiet. 

“During the Storm, it changed me, and I gained these abilities. No one could explain what was happening to me, or they didn’t care because of everything else. So I – I killed him.” 

“Do you regret it?” Rey asked. 

His eyes were a glimmer in the darkness as he stared into the distance. “Yes.” 

“Snoke and the First Order are not the answer, Kylo. They won’t bring back your father.” 

He fixed his eyes on her. “I hate them,” Kylo admitted. “I hate the First Order more than anyone.” 

“Then we go. We go to Snoke, and we end it.” 

“It’s not that simple.” 

“No,” Rey agreed, “but it’d be the first step, right?” 

He uttered a mirthless laugh. 

“You can trust me,” she said. “You need to.” 

“I do.” It seemed an interminable stretch of time before he jerked his head in a sharp nod. “Alright.” 

“Alright.” 

A magcycle glimmered on the road’s shoulder and Kylo leapt astride it, turning towards her in a request to do the same and silently offered a helmet. Her eyes met his as she slipped it on. 

_Don’t be afraid. I feel it too._

She straddled the magcycle’s saddle, her arms finding themselves wrapped around his middle. She braced herself; the last time she’d ridden one of these, she was unconscious. She wasn’t expecting the odd thrill of power that flowed from him into the magcycle’s core. It drew from her, too, the connection between them creating a conduit. They leapt forward, faster than anticipated and Kylo let out a shout of surprise. He pulled back and the magcycle jerked to a stop. 

“I didn’t realize –“ He huffed a laugh. “You’ll have to contain it, Rey. Otherwise we’ll crash off the first bend in the road. Combined, our energies will be too much.” 

“Sorry,” she exhaled, relaxing the vice-grip she’d had on him. 

“No.” The word rumbled in his chest and she shivered. “Don’t be.” 

He tried again, and this time she was ready for the draw on their bond. They glided away under the stars with nothing but the rush of wind and the hum of the road to chase them. 

The journey back to the city passed like a dream. 

The route they took alternated from wide curves along slow-moving rivers to straight stretches between fallow fields. Auroras of brilliant emerald, sapphire, and amethyst whipped miles over their heads but Rey was aware of them as never before, sure if she reached out they would answer her call. Dawn crept over them, the grayscale sky pinkening into a faded vision of the day ahead. 

Her mind wandered as she clung to him, meditating on the incredible events of the past few days. Her thoughts touched on Finn, on Maz, her home, the Resistance, the Knights, Skywalker. The power she’d unknowingly had for so long. Maybe she would have discovered her place if she hadn’t been living in fear for so long, looking to the past that was lost to her. 

How could she have known? Who was there to tell her anything than what she had known to be true? 

Rey lifted her head when they came to the suburban sprawl. The magcycle slowed as Kylo avoided the abandoned vehicles that littered the side of the highway and crumbling overpasses. It was eerily quiet, too early for those who still made a living in the towns spreading out from the city. Peering over his shoulder, she could make out the darker smudges of skyscrapers on the horizon against the soft dawn. Rey steeled herself. What waited for them? 

The closer they came, the older the buildings became until they were dwarfed by the high rises and towers. 

Kylo guided the magcycle into a grungy, unmaintained parking garage. Rey slid off when his boots settled on the ground. 

“What are we doing?” she asked. “I mean, I know what we’re doing, but, how?” 

He turned to her. She’d forgotten how tall he was. 

“Rey.” 

She started. Her name from his lips still surprised her. “Yes?” 

“You don’t have to come with me.” He ran a hand through his dark mop of hair. Gone was the moon-limned shadow Knight on the dark river’s shore. Had she ever seen his face in daylight? She faced a simple man brimming with uncertainty, but beyond that, hope when he met her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing. He has abilities like we do, more powerful than anyone else –” 

She reached out and gripped his arm. “Kylo, we are more powerful than anyone else,” she corrected. 

He inhaled sharply. He wrestled with her words, accepted them as truth. His eyes rose to hers. “My name is Ben. Not Kylo. That – that was Snoke. I just – you should know. In case.” 

“In case we die?” 

“We won’t.” 

He seemed to believe her, and let the last layers between them fall away. She didn’t understand the significance of the new-old name, but knots of tension unraveled in his posture. She tried out his new name. “Ben.” 

“Yes?” 

She pulled her shoulders back. “I’m coming with you.” 

Ben stared at her before letting out a disbelieving chuckle. “Alright then.” 

Her lips flickered in a smile. “Alright.” 

No one approached them as they stalked towards the Towers, not even a pigeon or a rat. A soft morning breeze filtered down the wide, empty avenues off the lake. Ben wrenched open the doors at the foot of the imposing glass structure. 

Together, they moved towards the elevators, but were halted by an offended exclamation. 

“What is this, Ren?” Hux sneered. Rey’s lip curled in disgust at the thin man with flaming red hair. “Where is Skywalker? And who the fuck is this?” 

“Leave, Hux. This needn’t involve you. Not yet.” 

Rey’s eyes widened at the name of the First Order’s General. Finn’s horrific stories, tales of oppression and inhuman acts, told in the twilight hours in their apartment had a face. 

Hux scoffed. “Just what do you think you’re doing? We have a way of doing things. You can’t just barge in to see Snoke whenever you like. That’s why it’s called the First Order.” 

“Step aside, Hux.” 

Ignoring him, Hux turned to Rey, who gave him a fiery glare. He scanned her head to toe, taking in the dishevelment and exhaustion from her recent trials. “Is this the girl?” He laughed. “It is, isn’t it? Did she ever know anything about Skywalker, or is she just the victim of some sick fantasy of yours? I’d hate to know what you offered her to return with you. You’ve always been pathetic, but this is just weakness.” 

“If anyone’s sick here, it’s you,” Rey snapped. 

“Ah, she speaks. Adorable.” His face twisted further. “You should probably restrain her again, Ren, before she gets into trouble.” 

An urge to hurt the sniveling man rose in her throat, smothering her, but Ben’s thinning restraint conflicted with his anger. She settled for a fiercer glare. She was on unfamiliar ground but if the man was anything like Plutt, direct confrontation would result in something much worse. 

“Move, Hux,” Ben growled. 

“I’m going to the same place you are, so by all means,” he extended a hand, “ladies first.” 

Rey stiffened. Ben didn’t have a plan, but this definitely didn’t seem to be going according to plan. 

“You’re not getting on the elevator with us,” Ben said. 

Hux straightened, his hand falling to his side. “Why ever not?” 

Ben’s nostrils flared briefly before he schooled his expression. “Fine. Get in.” 

Ben extended his hand and the doors slid open. Hux sneered and spun on his heel, stalking into the elevator car. Only once he’d crossed into the claustrophobic space did he realize his mistake. Rey caught sight of his enraged expression as the doors slammed shut. He screamed and pounded on the other side of the metal panels, but Rey was without pity. 

“This one,” Ben said, opening the doors of the adjacent elevator with a gesture of his hand. Rey spared one last glance in the direction of the trapped Hux before stepping into the elevator. Once the doors slid shut, Ben explained the mechanism for operating the elevator and she followed his lead by drawing on her power to raise the elevator through the Towers. 

Ben said through gritted teeth, “Stop here.” 

The elevator car shuddered to a halt. Their tandem breaths were the only sound. 

“What’s in there?” Rey asked. 

“Snoke, hopefully.” 

She laid a hand on his arm. “Are you ready?” 

He exhaled shakily, wiping the thin sheen of exertion from his brow. “As I’ll ever be.” 

Ben pried open the doors and they emerged into the reception area. The double doors beyond were shut, but Ben didn’t hesitate, not now. 

The doors may have ricocheted off the interior walls, but no one noticed. 

The man Rey presumed was Snoke sat at the far end of a conference table, and the rosy morning light pouring through the windows was unable to mask the deathly pallor of his skin. 

“Kylo,” Snoke chided. He flicked the sheaf of paper in his hand on the heavy wooden table so that it slid across the slick surface before fixing colorless eyes on them. “I see you’ve brought the girl as I asked.” 

Rey stiffened. What had he said? 

Snoke spread long, wrinkled fingers on the tabletop. “What took so long, boy?” 

Rey turned to Ben, but he was frozen, his face immobile. 

“Come closer, my girl.” 

She glared. “I think not.” 

He chuckled. “You mistake my words as a request. I said, come closer.” 

Rey didn’t dare look at Ben, not willing to see the fear seeping from him. Instead she rallied her courage and met Snoke’s lizard stare with an unflinching gaze of her own. She stepped forward. 

“So much strength,” he purred, his lips twisting in an ugly facsimile of a smile. “You believe you are special, no? Stumbled onto some new power that makes you invincible.” Rey slowly moved around the conference table, taking deliberate steps. He continued speaking, undeterred by her advance. “Yet you were foolish enough to take the bait. My conflicted Knight. What did he tell you of himself?” 

“I’m not special,” Rey said. “I’m no one.” 

“Hmm. Seems like you need a reminder, scavenger. This isn’t going to go the way you think.” 

_Good thing we don’t have a plan,_ she thought, and said, “You underestimate me, and Ben.” 

“I doubt that very much.” 

The chairs around the table were stitched with leather, but the frames were metal. She pivoted and called two of them to hurl towards Snoke. He diverted their awkward bulk with a wave of his hand and sent them crashing through the reinforced windows in a shower of singing glass shards. 

“Such spunk.” 

Rey had hoped that would work. She stood rooted to the spot, chest heaving. 

“Ben, is it?” Snoke said, as though nothing had happened. 

Rey raised her chin. 

“Foolish girl.” 

The crackle and jolt of the electricity overwhelmed her before she could react. 

It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough that she never wished to experience that pain again. Her vision faded in and out on the edges and a metallic film coated her tongue. Snoke’s words reached her from a great distance. 

“You’ll have to do better than this, Kylo, if you seek to test me.” 

Rey whimpered. She had fallen to the ground, legs bent awkwardly beneath her. Her body resisted her attempts to right herself. Where was Ben? 

“Did you retrieve Skywalker?” 

“Skywalker is dead,” Rey said, fumbling the words over numb lips. “The knowledge he had died with him.” She coughed, curling into herself, the violent exhalations rattling her lungs. 

“Lose your voice, boy? It seems the scavenger speaks for you now,” Snoke sighed. “I’m afraid this will have to be the last in your litany of failures, Kylo.” 

“She has nothing to do with my mistakes,” Ben said, sounding closer than Rey expected. She pushed herself onto her knees and faced Snoke, glaring with undisguised hate. 

“That should make this next task all the easier,” Snoke sneered. “Whatever promises or hopes she holds for you, she would only fail them. You know where the true power resides, Kylo. Destroy her, and I’ll consider your sins forgiven.” 

Rey turned. “Ben?” 

His eyes met hers, and it was as if he saw her but also something else, a memory, or a haunting of those who he’d murdered on Snoke’s orders. 

“Any time now, _Kylo Ren_.” 

She was no one. A scavenger clinging to life by her fingernails. A no-name that would soon fade from living memory like she’d never been. 

“Ben.” His eyes had dimmed, a vacant sternness overcoming his face and posture. “Ben, you’re not alone.” 

Nothing happened; he remained unmoved. She should be afraid, but was overwhelmingly disappointed. She wouldn’t leave him, not when she’d promised to be with him, so she held his hollow gaze. 

“I know what I have to do,” Ben intoned. Disappointment began to melt into despair. His hands rose, fingers curling to claws that framed her face. 

“Strike true, Kylo Ren,” Snoke murmured. “Kill your enemy.” 

Rey felt the surge before it was launched, the static and rush of power scorching through Ben and out of his hands. 

She flinched, though the energy didn’t touch her. 

It arced over where she knelt and struck Snoke in the chest, a sphere of brilliant, blinding lightning. The vile man staggered, his eyes rolling into his head, and teetered in the empty window frame before toppling into the open air. There was no scream. 

“Rey? Rey, are you alright?” His hand settled on her upper arms, bracing her. High on adrenaline, she shook in his grasp but managed to speak through numb lips. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Are you –” 

“I’m fine.” He tightened his grip. “I’m so sorry, Rey. I shouldn’t have brought you here – you were in danger, you could have died –” 

“Would you have done it if I wasn’t here?” 

“No.” He swallowed and released her. “Did you mean it? What you said earlier?” 

Rey inhaled sharply and took his face in her hands. “Ben, you’re not alone.” 

His lips parted slightly, perhaps in wonder. His eyes, brown with splashes of green, sharpened and darkened all at once. “Neither are you, Rey.” 

She kissed him. At first, it was clumsy, juvenile, innocent even, but a primal hunger beneath it that grew. What started as fumbling mouths when he responded turned to a slow flicker of lips and tongue that lit a fire within her. 

When they broke for air, his hands had found the back of her head so that she couldn’t get far, their foreheads pressed against each other. 

“Be with me,” he said breathlessly. 

“I thought that’s what I was doing.” 

He chuckled. “Be with me. The Order’s done, or it will be. We can contact your friends with the Resistance, but together, Rey, we can understand what this is between us. What our powers can do, to bring peace and healing, not just harm. We can find our place in this world, together.” 

“Yes,” she said. 

“Yes?” 

She laughed. “Yes.” 

He grinned, and it felt like belonging. Like coming home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little story. Please leave a kudos and comment to share your thoughts! Be sure to read the other pieces in the RFFA 2020 collection 😊
> 
> Until next time...

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos and comment to let me know what you think! Next chapter Oct 26
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://a-nerd-obsessed.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/nerd_obsessed)


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